Visions of the East: Orientalism and Imperialism in the Memoirs of Crimean War Nurses

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article examines the memoirs of four women who provided nursing care in the Crimean War: Mary Seacole, Elizabeth Davis, Martha Nicol and Fanny Margaret Taylor. It argues that these memoirs are also Orientalist travelogues that reflect the women’s participation in Britain’s informal empire in the eastern Mediterranean. These women used Orientalist tropes, such as scenic vistas, idle servants and foreign customs like the harem, to attract a readership for their publications. Additionally, by allying themselves with the British civilizing mission, these women sought acceptance from British society. The middle-class volunteer nurses, like Fanny Margaret Taylor or Martha Nicol, attempted to excuse their seemingly unconventional behavior in journeying far from the traditional female domestic sphere to serve as war nurses, while Elizabeth Davis, a working-class nurse, aimed to overcome the stereotypes of intemperance and immorality associated with her profession. Finally, as a mixed-race woman, Mary Seacole faced a great difficulty in gaining the sympathy of her white British readership but by intensively associating herself with the British military and its customs, she gained the affection of the British public.